NHL Draft: Teams weigh risks of selecting Russian prospects

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The war in Ukraine has added an increasing level of uncertainty for NHL teams interested in drafting Russia-born prospects because of questions regarding their availability to play in North America.

While no team has openly stated it would avoid selecting Russians altogether in the two-day draft in Montreal that opens Thursday, there is the potential of Russia being shut out in the first round for the first time since 2005.

"I don’t know if anybody has the answer," said Seattle general manager Ron Francis, whose team currently has 12 picks over seven rounds, including No. 4 overall. "It’s certainly unknown right now so it makes it, I think, a little more riskier than years past."

A general view of the NHL logo on the back of the goal on April 24, 2022 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.   (Rich Graessle/Getty Images)

While there has always been a risk of Russian prospects deciding to stay home to play, the concerns are greater now with travel restrictions in place during the war for anyone wishing to travel to or from Russia and Belarus. NHL executives are left to wonder if a pick will actually be allowed out.

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It doesn’t help that NHL and its Russian-based counterpart, the Kontinental Hockey League, do not have a transfer agreement in place. That prevents NHL teams from buying out KHL contracts, a consistent hurdle for any GM hoping to raid the second-best league in the world.

Without disclosing the Canadiens’ strategy, Montreal GM Kent Hughes said it will be up to each team to weigh the risks of selecting a Russian player.

"It’s simple enough to say